Sunday 27 August 2017

The Sin Of Choice (Part 1) by Paul Rudiak


The Sin Of Choice (Part 1) by Paul Rudiak
First published in the UK by Long Tale Books in October 2015.

304 pages towards Olivia's fun August Reading Challenge to read an average of 50 pages each day throughout the month. Total = 2753.

Where to buy this book:

Abebooks

Alibris

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Kobo

Smashwords

Speedyhen

The Book Depository

Waterstones

Wordery


How I got this book:
Received a review copy from the author

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Peter Thornton is a man in his early fifties with two problems: one professional and the other medical. He is a lawyer, and some of his clients are prominent members of the Manchester underworld. The diagnosis of a brain tumour turns his world upside down and forces him to confront matters from his past that he would rather have kept hidden.
His daughter has never liked what he does for a living, and she has always wanted to find out how much dirt is on his hands. She is surprised to find there is blood in the dirt, and that her father is only half to blame. His confession tempts her to search for the other party involved, which will lead her into the path of people who like to keep their business away from prying eyes.
Peter has kept his professional and private lives separate for over twenty years, but now his daughter's overconfidence will undo all that effort and force him to face his past, and thus acknowledge what fractured his family while he was too busy to notice.


I was introduced to Paul Rudiak by author Vikki Patis who suggested I might like to read his crime trilogy The Sin Of Choice. I love this grapevine way of discovering new books so accepted the offer of Part 1.

Set mostly in affluent middle-class Cheshire, The Sin Of Choice is a crime novel, but (for Part 1 at least) far from the usual genre offerings. Rudiak's central character, lawyer Peter Thornton, doesn't rush around one step ahead of the police, gunwaving and unearthing serial killers. Instead he is grappling with the implications of a terminal medical diagnosis and most of the book depicts his and his family's attempts to come to terms with the news. I liked Rudiak's in depth character portrayals - although frequently not the characters themselves! Thornton is a successful lawyer, albeit not a moral one, and we see his family's different methods for squaring their distaste at who pays him. This ostensibly perfect family is as cracked and flawed as any, yet is obliged by their social status to present a certain image to the world outside. Unravelling the sacrifices each has made in order to do this, especially those invisible even to other members of the family is a fascinating process.

Where this novel fell down for me is that it is the first third of a very long book and it feels like it. There is a lot of meandering introduction and circular conversation. I also felt that characters such as mobster's son Danny, who get significant attention, didn't justify such a strong presence at this point in the story. No doubt his role will feature strongly in the further instalments, but for me Part 1 centred on the Thornton family and I didn't want to be distracted from establishing and understanding their complicated emotional relationships.


Search Lit Flits for more:
Books by Paul Rudiak / Crime fiction / Books from England

Thursday 24 August 2017

Manukau Bluebirds by Tin Larrick + Free book


Manukau Bluebirds by Tin Larrick
Published by Obscure Cranny Press in February 2014.

Where to buy this book:

Abebooks

Alibris

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Kobo (FREE)

Smashwords (FREE)

Speedyhen

The Book Depository

Waterstones

Wordery


How I got this book:

Bought the ebook from Amazon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In furtherance of some nebulous dream of a better life on the other side of the world, Hugh Button, former Detective Inspector with the Metropolitan Police, is starting again as a patrol constable in Auckland, New Zealand. It seemed like a good idea at the time. But now he is here alone, with no family, no stuff, a wooden shack in the middle of nowhere and what amounts to constructive demotion – or possibly career suicide.
Two months in, Hugh still has no stuff and no family, but he's learning to live with it. The 2011 Rugby World Cup – and the ensuing chaos on New Zealand’s streets – is going full steam ahead, his beloved family are due to arrive in just one more month, and with the fractious bonds he has made with his colleagues on Section Three, life is maybe a little less surreal than when he touched down. But only a little. Relearning the art of patrol work, Hugh and the rest of Section Three respond to a spectrum of calls that range from the violent to the exhilarating, from the tragic to the tender, from the hilarious to the just plain weird.
In the meantime, there is a shadow over Auckland. The shadow of a night stalker. The shadow of fear and violation. An obsessive creeper, on the prowl, whose hunger for breaking into houses and forcing himself upon the occupants is growing by the day …

For me, Manukau Bluebirds is definitely Tin Larrick's best book to date. Although I missed the recognition of familiar Eastbourne scenes that characterised his previous work, a local flavour is still much to the fore. It's just local to the other side of the world in this New Zealand based story. We are introduced to the police officers and city of Auckland in a series of vignettes, some of which are the beginnings of the overall story arc. Larrick's characters are realistic and nicely portrayed. The arc begins slowly, albeit with some horrific crime scenes, but once it takes off, the ride is breathless and I was gripped throughout!


Search Lit Flits for more:
Books by Tin Larrick / Crime fiction / Books from England

Wednesday 23 August 2017

The Second Deadly Sin by Asa Larsson


The Second Deadly Sin by Asa Larsson
First published in Swedish in Sweden as Till offer at Molok by Albert Bonniers Forlag in 2012. English language translation by Laurie Thompson published by MacLehose Press in 2014.

I registered my copy of this book at BookCrossing

392 pages towards Olivia's fun August Reading Challenge to read an average of 50 pages each day throughout the month. Total = 2159 pages.

How I got this book:
Borrowed the paperback from my OH

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Where to buy this book:


The Book Depository
Wordery
Waterstones
Amazon US / Amazon UK

Dawn breaks in a forest in northern Sweden. Villagers gather to dispatch a rampaging bear. When the beast is brought to ground they are horrified to find the remains of a human hand inside its stomach.
In nearby Kiruna a woman is found murdered in her bed, her body a patchwork of vicious wounds, the word WHORE scrawled across the wall. Her grandson Marcus, already an orphan, is nowhere to be seen.
Grasping for clues, Rebecka Martinsson begins to delve into the victim's tragic family history. But with doubts over her mental health still lingering, she is ousted from the case by an arrogant and ambitious young prosecutor.
Before long a chance lead draws Martinsson back into the thick of the action and her legendary courage is put to the test once more.

This is my second Rebecka Martinsson novel although it is the fifth in the series. Reading out of order wasn't a problem though because, other than a few minor nods to previous cases, The Second Deadly Sin is an entirely self-contained story and a thrilling one at that. Larsson grabbed my attention from the first pages and hardly let up until the end. I love that she manages to firmly ground her writing in her northern Sweden locations, bringing the people and landscapes chillingly to life without sacrificing tension or the exciting pace. Everywhere felt so beautiful that I now want to visit this part of the world - except for the high murder rate of course, but I suspect it's not quite as dangerous there in reality!

Larsson's breathless ride meant I could easily suspend as much disbelief as was necessary - these aren't novels to be over-analysed - and I appreciated the intertwined storylines. The historical Elina allows us to look back to 1910s Sweden and compare lifestyles then with their equivalents a century later. The strong character portrayals are always interesting and, of course, Larsson's women are always far more than decorative ornamentation or semi-clad murder victims which is refreshing for the crime fiction genre. I think my OH has already bought at least two more books in the Rebecka Martinsson series and I look forward to devouring them!


Search Lit Flits for more:
Books by Asa Larsson / Crime fiction / Books from Sweden

Monday 21 August 2017

Forbidden Fruit by Stanley Gazemba


Forbidden Fruit by Stanley Gazemba
First published as The Stone Hills Of Maragoli by Kwani in Kenya in 2002. Republished in America as Forbidden Fruit by Mantle in June 2017.
Winner of the 2003 Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature.

Featured in WorldReads: Kenya
296 pages towards Olivia's fun August Reading Challenge to read an average of 50 pages each day throughout the month. Total = 1767 pages.

How I got this book:
Received a review copy from the publisher via NetGalley

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Desperate to make ends meet, Ombima commits a "harmless" crime. When he tries to conceal his misdeed, the simple farm laborer becomes a reluctant participant in a sinister affair. If discovered, the consequences could be disastrous for Ombima's family, friends, and a spate of unwitting, gossipy villagers. A delicious tale of greed, lust, and betrayal, Stanley Gazemba's FORBIDDEN FRUIT is more than a dramatic tale of rural life in western Kenya. The moral slips and desperate cover-ups — sometimes sad, sometimes farcical — are the stories of time and place beyond the village of Maragoli.

I hoped to have enjoyed reading Forbidden Fruit more than I actually did and it took a while for me to actually put my finger on what I think lets the novel down. On a positive note, Gazemba provides us with a striking portrait of Kenyan village life. Following his supporting cast of landowners and villagers through their days allowed me to understand and empathise with them - as well as reinforcing my desire to only ever buy FairTrade tea. Witnessing, albeit fictiously, so many people living in absolute poverty despite their hard work on tea plantations really gave me a good insight into relative Western affluence. Despite their eye-opening aspect, these scenes of gossip and bickering aren't depressingly serious. Instead they are alive with energy and great fun to read.

Unfortunately I was less enamoured of the central storyline which follows plantation worker Ombima as he gets himself deeper and deeper into trouble as the result of one desperate act. I struggled to empathise with Ombima or to understand his actions because I felt his motivations weren't adequately explained. The narrative seemed disjointed to me, Ombima stumbling from one event to another without strong enough reasons for doing so. This was a shame as I happily got caught up in the surrounding circumstances and appreciated Gazemba's detailed evocation of the village and landscape around Maragoli. I would still recommend Forbidden Fruit for this portrayal of rural Kenya.


Search Lit Flits for more:
Books by Stanley Gazemba / Contemporary fiction / Books from Kenya

Sunday 20 August 2017

The Book Of Abisan by C H Clepitt


The Book of Abisan by C.H. Clepitt
Self published in May 2013.

How I got this book:
Downloaded the ebook from Amazon

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Do you believe in destiny?
When two worlds collide a new hope is born.

Yfrey is lost, alone in a world where her kind is persecuted. She has one hope, to find The Roghnaithe, one who is destined to help save her world from destruction by a tyrannical ruler. The Book of Abisan crosses multiple realities to follow the lives of two very different women, as they come together to battle armies, as well as their own personal demons.

Step into an exciting world of adventure, magic and alternate realities in this fast paced, action packed fantasy.

I discovered The Book Of Abisan back in 2015 after having been pointed towards it on Twitter. A feminist fantasy novel of witches, magic and multiple realities, it wasn't my preferred genre, but I enjoyed the read. C H Clepitt has a new novel, Everything Is Better With A Cape, launching at the beginning of September and I am looking forward to reading and reviewing it soon.

The Book Of Abisan is a volume of prophecy, carried and studied by a witch, Yfrey, who is trying to rid her world of an oppressive dictator, Calim. Calim is a charismatic man, but one without any magic of his own and he is determined to rid that same world of all its magical beings, leaving himself all powerful. Clepitt's book is a fast action-packed ride - a complete contrast to my previous read! There is some attempt at rounding out the two main characters, Yfrey and a human woman named Jacques, but otherwise everyone is pretty two-dimensional with the novel's emphasis put on doing rather than being. I thought several scenes were too rushed and would have liked a lot more in the way of description to help me understand what was going on and why, especially once the reality hopping starts. I wanted to know more about the different realities! If that was done I would say that there could be enough plot here for two exciting novels. However, overall this is an easy escapist read and I liked the drawings at the start of each Part.


Search Lit Flits for more:
Books by C H Clepitt / Fantasy fiction / Books from England

Monday 14 August 2017

Child Of Tibet by Soname Yangchen


Child Of Tibet by Soname Yangchen with Vicki MacKenzie
Published in the UK by Piatkus Books in 2006.

I registered my copy of this book at BookCrossing.
184 pages towards Olivia's fun August Reading Challenge to read an average of 50 pages each day throughout the month. Total = 1139.


How I got this book:
Bought from a Rowcroft charity shop in Torquay

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book tells the remarkable story of Soname's triumph over adversity, told against the backdrop of a turbulent and dangerous Tibet. Soname was born in the harsh Tibetan countryside during the Chinese occupation. When she was just sixteen Soname risked death in a freedom trek across the Himalayas, finally arriving in Dharamsala, home in exile of the Dalai Lama. Even after managing to escape from Tibet, she faced further dangers and heartache in India, being forced by destitution to give her daughter away. Soname later managed to reach England, where she met and married an Englishman and came to live in Brighton. Her hidden talent was discovered when she sang a traditional Tibetan song at a wedding reception, unaware that a member of a famous band was a guest. Concerts followed. Tracing her long-lost daughter has long been Soname's preoccupation, and it is hoped that her daughter will finally join her in England later this year. Hers is a story of immense will, unbelievable courage and, above all, an indomitable soaring free spirit.


Child Of Tibet is an inspiring autobiography, an uplifting tale of one woman's unceasing attempts to make a better life for herself in the face of extreme circumstances. Prior to reading this book I was aware of the Tibetan struggle to shake off Chinese rule, but I had no idea of the realities of living under their ideology or how completely opposed many of their rules are to traditional Tibetan Buddhist beliefs. For Soname, escaping the repressive regime regime was vital because she probably would never have been anything other than a house slave in her native land.

Despite her isolation and poor treatment in Tibet, Soname's love for her country shines through every page. Her descriptions of her childhood farming community, the beauty and majesty of the mountainous landscape, and the everyday difficulties of living in such terrain and at such altitude - water can take two hours to boil! - opened my eyes to a previously hidden culture. I was saddened to learn how much has been destroyed during. the Chinese occupation.

Once Soname's escape begins I was in awe of her mental strength and the dedication of those people travelling with her. I am sure in the same situation I would have given up (and died), but Soname's faith and ability to be open to opportunity gives her the strength to persevere. I was amazed at the variety of people she encounters, a woman with basically nothing hob-nobbing with the super-rich, and I would have liked to learn more about aspects such as the exiled Tibetan community in India. Child Of Tibet is not a long enough book to encompass Soname's incredible life so it did at times feel superficial. Soname is an amazing woman and I am glad to have discovered her story and her music through reading Child Of Tibet.



Etsy Find!
by Gem And Fossil Emporium in
Hertford, England

Click pic to visit Etsy Shop


Search Literary Flits for more:
Books by Soname Yangchen / Biography and memoir / Books from Tibet

Saturday 12 August 2017

Body And Soul by Roddy Murray


Body And Soul by Roddy Murray
Self published in November 2013.

259 pages towards Olivia's fun August Reading Challenge to read an average of 50 pages each day throughout the month. Total = 864.

Where to buy this book:

Abebooks

Alibris

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Kobo

Smashwords

Speedyhen

The Book Depository

Waterstones

Wordery


How I got this book:
Took advantage of a free Amazon download promotion

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Two very different men are on a pathway to a meeting which will change both their lives for ever. One is a Scottish ex-soldier, ex-boxer, ex-husband, ex-father and ex-drunk struggling to turn his life around. The other, the CEO of an American multi-national, has both wealth and power. They do not know each other and only the American believes he knows the true purpose of their meeting. In fact both have been duped in different ways and as their lives begin to unravel they must try to deal with the truth if they can. Only one has the skills and determination to survive.

Despite its science fiction themes, Body And Soul reads more like a macho adventure novel. We are constantly reminded of our protagonist, Frank's, ex-army credentials, glamorising his violent tendencies. The story itself starts out well with Frank being rehabilitated from extreme alcoholism to become a successful personal trainer. He then receives an unusual commission from an American corporation, Nebus. At the same time we meet Blaine, a high level Nebus manager visiting the company's Scottish manufacturing facility. I enjoyed reading about the plant and its workers. Murray does a good job of introducing his lead characters and setting the stage so I was interested to see where the story would lead.

Unfortunately the middle of Body And Soul is slow going, bogged down in far too much repetition of the same routines and with very little direct action or even speech. We are told what characters do, eat and how they feel, but we aren't shown so I felt too removed from them to appreciate their situation. Murray's plot raises deep philosophical questions about body sovereignty and personal identity, but these are barely explored leaving us instead to be told again and again about Frank's incessant lechery. A major irritant in this book is that none of the women are remotely realistic. Instead they just exist to provide eye candy and easy sex.

The narrative does pick up energy again towards the close. I could appreciate Frank's physical struggles and the final wrap up is satisfying. However I was disappointed by the earlier squandered opportunities to engage me as a reader. I thought the real bones of the story needed stronger presentation because all the excess padding overly dilutes what should have been a much more exciting read.


Search Lit Flits for more:
Books by Roddy Murray / Science fiction / Books from Scotland

Thursday 10 August 2017

31 Day Plastic-Free Living Challenge by Lindsay Miles


31 Day Plastic-Free Living Challenge by Lindsay Miles
Self-published in Australia in 2017.

Where to buy this book:
Buy the ebook directly from the author's website
Receive a reward copy for supporting Lindsay on Patreon

How I got this book:
Bought from the author

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A mini guide with a mini price tag, the 31 Day Plastic-Free Living Challenge is designed to kickstart your plastic-free living journey!
The 31 Day Plastic-Free Living Challenge has 31 illustrated tips, challenges and insights for living with less plastic. Tackle one challenge per day, or go at your own pace.

Having already read Lindsay Miles' free eguide Enough Is Enough, I was aware of the overall ideas included in Miles' 31 Day Plastic-Free Living Challenge. The latter is a great little book for more specific inspiration although I think if I had tried to make each of the changes on successive days I would have been tearing my hair out - probably after just a fortnight! Instead I have it saved for reference, picking out a few ideas at a time to incorporate into my lifestyle and allowing those new habits to bed in before I add a few more.

I first read 31 Day Plastic-Free Living Challenge during the mania of Plastic Free July and liked that it contains easily understandable snippets of essential information and motivation to help readers towards their own plastic free lifestyles. If you missed the boat on last month's Plastic Free July Challenge or prefer to make your lifestyle changes without that type of pressure, this guide is the one for you! Re-reading it again a few weeks later fired up my enthusiasm again. I happily ticked off tips I have already started to follow and found myself eager to launch myself into other ideas! The book is written and illustrated in a light engaging style and I think I will continue to return to it for inspiration for several months to come.


Etsy Find!
by KICA Candles in
Leighton Buzzard, England

Click pic to visit Etsy Shop


Search Lit Flits for more:
Books by Lindsay Miles / Lifestyle books / Books from England

Sunday 6 August 2017

Three Hours Past Midnight by Tony Knighton


Three Hours Past Midnight by Tony Knighton
Published in Hong Kong by Crime Wave Press in July 2017.

162 pages towards Olivia's fun August Reading Challenge to read an average of 50 pages each day throughout the month. Total = 497.

Where to buy this book:

Abebooks

Alibris

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Kobo

Smashwords

Speedyhen

The Book Depository

Waterstones

Wordery


How I got this book:
Received a review copy from the author

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

His last job a disaster, a professional thief teams with an old partner eager for one last score – a safe in the home of a wealthy Philadelphia politician. But they are not the only ones set on the cash. His partner dead and the goods missing, he hunts for his money and the killer to find out that this may have been a job best left undone.

A breathtaking ride through the muggy streets of a Philadelphia night, Three Hours Past Midnight is an atmospheric and exciting thriller. Narrated by our anti-hero, a violent thief, the story follows his attempts to discover who set up him and his recently deceased partner before he too ceases breathing. This is classic crime writing with a powerful sense of its location. After hours Philadelphia is as much of a leading character as any of her gangsters, thieves or police, and this authenticity grounds the novel in a completely believable way. In fact I think the city might just be the only likeable character - or a neutral one at least. Knighton's convincing cast are self-serving and grasping, all out for themselves and utterly amoral. The plot snakes through clubs and alleyways, pursuits and tense standoffs, and I was gripped by every minute. A real page turner.


Search Lit Flits for more:
Books by Tony Knighton / Crime fiction / Books from America

Friday 4 August 2017

Rusticles by Rebecca Gransden + Giveaway


Rusticles by Rebecca Gransden
Published by Cardboard Wall Empire in July 2017.

Enter the Goodreads giveaway to win a paperback copy of Rusticles (closes 12th August)

79 pages towards Olivia's fun August Reading Challenge to read an average of 50 pages each day throughout the month. Total = 335.

Where to buy this book:


Abebooks

Alibris

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Kobo

Smashwords

Speedyhen

The Book Depository

Waterstones

Wordery


How I got this book:
Received a review copy from the author

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In Hilligoss, a tired man searches for a son, a flamingo enthrals the night, and fireworks light up the lost. In these stories and more, Rusticles offers a meandering tour through backroads bathed in half light, where shadows play along the verges and whispers of the past assault daydreams of the present. Walk the worn pathways of Hilligoss.

Rusticles is an eerie collection of eleven short stories all set in or around a town named Hilligoss. Through each of the tales we catch glimpses of its people and the darker side of life there. Gransden has a talent for evoking places, expertly presenting ordinary scenes, but then just twisting them enough to result in a recognisable yet unnerving situations. My favourite stories in Rusticles are great examples of this. In Dried Peas On A Wall, children loiter outside an old woman's home, daring each other to knock on her door and run away. A familiar scenario probably the world over, but here the children's chatter has a disturbing tone. Breakneck Hill is another creepily atmospheric piece. A bus traverses its last route of the day with its driver entering into an apparently recurring conversation with a young girl who I am not sure was really there. And what happens to the woman the bus passed by?

I loved Rebecca Gransden's first novel, anemogram, so had high hopes for this collection. Rusticles only failing for me is that I felt some of the tales needed stronger characters, but accept this is difficult to achieve within the confines of the short story format. Hilligoss is a remarkably chilling creation though, reminiscent of Royston Vasey in its weirdness, and I would be happy to read more Gransden stories set here. Having this town as a link provides a satisfying cohesion to the collection.


Search Lit Flits for more:
Books by Rebecca Gransden / Short stories / Books from England

Thursday 3 August 2017

Midwinter Break by Bernard MacLaverty


Midwinter Break by Bernard MacLaverty
Published in the UK by Jonathan Cape today, the 3rd of August 2017.

256 pages towards Olivia's fun August Reading Challenge to read an average of 50 pages each day throughout the month, featured in WorldReads: Northern Ireland and my Book Of The Month for August 2017

How I got this book:
Received a review copy from the publisher via NetGalley

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Sixteen years on from his last novel, Bernard MacLaverty reminds us why he is regarded as one of the greatest living Irish writers. A retired couple, Gerry and Stella Gilmore, fly from their home in Scotland to Amsterdam for a long weekend. A holiday to refresh the senses, to do some sightseeing and generally to take stock of what remains of their lives. Their relationship seems safe, easy, familiar – but over the course of the four days we discover the deep uncertainties which exist between them.
Gerry, once an architect, is forgetful and set in his ways. Stella is tired of his lifestyle, worried about their marriage and angry at his constant undermining of her religious faith. Things are not helped by memories which have begun to resurface of a troubled time in their native Ireland. As their midwinter break comes to an end, we understand how far apart they are – and can only watch as they struggle to save themselves.
Bernard MacLaverty is a master storyteller, and Midwinter Break is the essential MacLaverty novel: accurate, compassionate observation, effortlessly elegant writing and a tender, intimate, heart-rending story – but it is also a profound examination of human love and how we live together, a chamber piece of real resonance and power. Forty years on from his first book, Bernard MacLaverty has written his masterpiece.

I loved this novel! MacLaverty has written a sensitive, thoughtful portrayal of Stella and Gerry's relationship, the deep cracks in which are exposed during a long weekend holiday in Amsterdam. I visited the city at the same time of year, maybe a decade ago now, so enjoyed MacLaverty's evocative descriptions. I remember the bitter cold and cosy restaurants, the fearless cyclists and the strange mist of an evening that lingers over the canals.

In Midwinter Break, I could empathise with and understand both characters equally, and both are very real - people I could randomly meet on any day. There is no frantic action or superhuman stunts in this book. Instead we have an introspective examination of two lives at the point of divergence after many years together. One is driven to absolutely make the most of whatever years are left, the other is content to squander time in a blissfully unaware alcoholic haze while memories of a previous occasion when they were nearly separated linger ominously in the background.

MacLaverty perfectly captures conversational fragments and the mundane habits of people used to each other's presence for decades. Stella and Gerry struggle to genuinely communicate because they haven't needed to discuss Issues for years and watching them flounder is almost painful. They are intimately aware of each other's physical ailments, but have lost touch with their hopes and dreams. I felt that I got to know these people so well during reading that I felt a little bereft on finishing reading - a sure sign of a good book for me! I don't think Midwinter Break will have universal appeal. Its themes are Women's Fiction, but without the saccharine sweetness of so much of that genre, and its gentle pace encouraged me to reflect on my own sense of purpose as I read about Stella's.


Search Lit Flits for more:
Books by Bernard MacLaverty / Contemporary fiction / Books from Northern Ireland

Wednesday 2 August 2017

The Glasshouse by Allan Campbell McLean


The Glasshouse by Allan Campbell McLean
First published in the UK in 1968. Republished by Endeavour Press in November 2015.

My 11th book for the Read Scotland Challenge 2015

One of my WorldReads from Scotland.

Where to buy this book:


How I got this book:
Downloaded a copy via the publisher's newsletter

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Austria, 1945. World War II is drawing to a close, but RAF signals clerk David Fraser is only just beginning a 112 day sentence at the infamous Glasshouse military prison. The name alone is enough to have the bravest of soldiers quaking in their boots. For the prisoners, their stay is an unimaginable nightmare of physical and mental torture. For the guards, it provides an unrivalled outlet for their own anger and frustration. It’s not long before Fraser’s defiant attitude begins to merit the unwanted attention of the sadistic prison wardens. Staff Evans quickly forms a relentless vendetta against Fraser, taking delight in watching him inch ever closer to breaking point. But following the announcement of Japan’s surrender, will the end of the war come too late for Fraser and his sanity? Will he be able to survive the psychological torment, physical punishment and endless solitary confinement? Or will he be just another victim of the Glasshouse?

I chose The Glasshouse primarily for its Scottish connections because I am not a great fan of military fiction, however the novel turned out to be a gripping and thought-provoking read. It is set towards the end of the Second World War. Peace has already been declared in Europe and the Americans have just dropped their first atomic bomb on Hiroshima in Japan. World-changing events are kept from the prisoners in the Glasshouse though. This British military prison for British soldiers is completely isolated from the outside world, both by high walls and by the insane mania of its guards.

Author Allan Campbell Mclean was himself incarcerated in one of these bizarre institutions during the time period of which he writes so, although his novel is fictitious, it is strongly rooted in remembered fact and this makes reading the book a horrifying experience. Prisoners are treated as less than human by guards who are drunk on power, or just plain drunk, and viciously sadistic, egged on by a mentally disturbed commandant who, to my way of thinking anyway, should not even be allowed command of himself! One particular scene - prisoners building a pyramid from huge timber planks only to have to tear it down and start again when it was complete - reminded me of the forced labour in Martin Sherman's play Bent, where concentration camp prisoners undertook similarly pointless forced labour.

What was most shocking for me were the violently bigoted attitudes displayed by so many characters. Mclean's writing made every one of these men believably real and I do hope that our armed forces no longer display such outrageous racism, xenophobia and misogyny. The Glasshouse is a brilliant piece of writing that perfectly captures a certain place and time. I can't actually say that I enjoyed reading the book - its subject matter doesn't really lend itself to the word, but I am certainly glad to have read it.


Search Lit Flits for more:
Books by Allan Campbell McLean / War fiction / Books from Scotland